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Monday, October 26, 2015

Review- The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer by Laxmi Hariharan

When her best friend is kidnapped, Ruby will stop at nothing to rescue him.

Criminals run the streets of Bombay. Jam-packed with the worst degenerates. The city is a shell of the pride and joy it used to be.

Ruby knows something must be done, but it isn’t until her best friend is kidnapped by the despotic Dr. Braganza that she knows that she and she alone must save city, save her best friend, save the world from total destruction.

Armed only with with Vikram, a cop-turned-rogue they are about to embark on a road they may never return from.

If you’re looking for fast-paced books like Hunger Games or dystopia fiction like Angelfall, the Ruby Iyer series is perfect for you.

What I enjoyed most about The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer is the fact that the book centres around a kickass female protagonist. Although difficult to relate to and immature at times, Ruby Iyer was definitely a fresh change from the typical damsels in distress. Getting into her head got on my nerves sometimes, but it was amusing to read from her point of view. She and her love interest, Vikram Roy made for a very cool and new age couple, which was awesome.

While I wasn't a 100% into the story as it didn't keep me as gripped and interested as I would have liked, it was still really good to imagine the city of dreams collapse and go from being hero to zero. Bombay was really well portrayed by author Laxmi Hariharan, who made it easy even for a person like me who isn't a frequent Bombay visitor, to imagine everything perfectly. Also, I found it so hard to even think of the same happening in reality because even though I am not the biggest fan of the city, even I know that Bombay is Bombay.

Another really impressive part was the subtle combination of dystopian and fantasy that Laxmi nailed. It was fascinating on the one hand, to read the slight mythological references and on the other hand, the very futuristic aspirations that the villain, Dr. Braganza has for Bombay. I'm not sure if that was the intention of the author, but the two aspects stood out and made for a good combination.

All the other characters were very well done as well. It's still confusing for me as to exactly where the story is headed and what the villain really wants, but I sure as hell am curious to know more. I just hope I get all the answers in the next instalment and the other books to come in the series. Overall, The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer was an enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend to fans of dystopian who want something different in the genre.

*A copy of The Many Lives by Laxmi Iyer was provided by the author and Read Out Loud in exchange for an honest review. We thank them for the book.

I'm definitely curious! I mean, how many books have I read that take place in India? I could probably count them on one hand. So to have a book that is within the genre that I usually gravitate towards (fantasy + dystopian = win) that also takes place in Bombay is of great interest to me!